D’Ann Cypert, Kim Horne and Maria Vasquez, all recent graduates of the Texas Master Gardeners Program, found their potted treasures at Robert’s Tree House. The downtown beautification effort is creating excitement for those involved, an enthusiasm some are hoping becomes contagious.

“I think it’s going to add a great deal to the beautification of downtown Plainview,” said Janice Payne, chairman of the Mainstreet Advisory Board, herself a master gardener. “What I’m really excited about is it gets more people involved in improvement and, hopefully, we’ll get a big snowball effect going on downtown.”

The Master Gardeners program is new to Plainview and part of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

“Gary (Cross) asked us to think about different projects to benefit Plainview and Hale County . . . Several of us talked about it and got it started,” said Mike Patrick, another master gardener who’s coordinating the Saturday project. Cross is Hale County AgriLife Extension agent-agriculture.

Payne said she’s wanting to see downtown with more curb appeal, something she’s expressed in the past as lacking. In a recent Mainstreet Advisory Board meeting, Payne said downtown needs to be “pretty.” That’s what the planter project is aimed toward with ongoing efforts to spruce up the overall appearance of downtown.

“Success breeds success and the more things improve, the more things will improve,” Payne said.

Saturday’s planting gets started at 9 a.m. at the first of at least 22 downtown locations, mostly on Broadway.

In the meantime, master gardeners are busy preparing wood chips and potting mix.